OTTAWA, ON – A year debuting at the Big Rig Brewery brewpub and retail store, a beer that won gold medals at both the Ontario and Canadian Brewing Awards in 2014 is now available province-wide.

Release The Hounds Black IPA is a 6.2% abv dark and hoppy ale that brewmaster Lon Ladell first conceived in 1998 when he was brewing at Spinnakers Brewpub in Victoria and tried a blend of English IPA, stout and brown ale made by one of the bartenders:

“It tasted so good,” he remembers. “There was the smooth character and roasted bitter notes from the dark malts, which played quite nicely into the big hop profile of the IPA.” Ladell used that as a template, but made some key tweaks when creating Release the Hounds. The bitterness from the dark malts is downplayed, while west coast and New Zealand hops up the juicy, tropical notes. A late dry-hopping stage finishes it off.

Big Rig Release The Hounds Black IPA is out now in 473 ml cans selling for $2.75 at select LCBO locations across Ontario.